Advertisement

Incoming town of Essex councillors will need to sign in to access town hall

Town of Essex council members will no longer have open access to the municipal building, as they have until now.

Access cards for incoming council members will only allow them access to the front door of the building, whereas previously, council has had access to all doors.

CAO Donna Hunter said this is not a restriction of access, it is just a way for the town to regulate who is in the building at all times.

"I do know that this is something we as a staff have been talking about for quite some time, because staff's just not comfortable with so many people milling around," she said.

Health and safety reasons

According to Hunter, the procedure should have been in place from day one, to require councillors to enter the building and sign in like any other visitor would.

"And that's really health and safety, because if there's a problem in the building such as a fire or whatever, we have to know who is in the building that we need to try and get out of the building."

Town of Essex
Town of Essex

Mailboxes will also be moved to the front of the building so that council members won't need to enter the office spaces to access their mail.

If a council member wants to meet with a staff member, the town is asking that they schedule meetings in advance.

The access changes will not apply to the mayor.

The changes were explained to the new council at an orientation meeting Wednesday night.

'Such restrictive policies'

CBC News reached out to all incoming members of council for comment.

Coun. Sherry Bondy said in her eight years on council, she has never heard of such a restriction in place for the entire council.

"I understand the need to make appointments with staff who can be tied up and busy, but do not agree with treating council members with such restrictive policies that we had no discussion about," she said.

"If the policy makes for better efficiencies in town hall then I am all for debating it, but to have it told to us without much discussion is not acceptable to me."

"To have it told to us without much discussion is not acceptable to me." - Coun. Sherry Bondy

She said she hopes council would review and question whether this is necessary.

Some of the incoming councillors are understanding of the changes.

"There are a lot of town assets to protect, I think there should be procedures," said councillor-elect Chris Vander Doelen.

"If they weren't tight enough before and they thought they needed to, then good for them, there's no change for me."

Councillor-elect Kim Verbeek said she sees nothing wrong with the changes.

"I understand why they feel the need to make these changes, and I don't think they're going to inconvenience anybody."

A 'better work environment'

Hunter said some years ago, councillors used to regularly use the front door and make appointments instead of just walking into the building.

With people roaming in the building, obviously it's distracting. - CAO Donna Hunter

"It's also a matter of making a little bit better work environment for staff because, you know, with people roaming in the building, obviously it's distracting," she said.

"I know council are council, but they're not employees. We don't let non-employees just wander around our building, no business does."

'Pretty rare here'

Tom Bain, the warden for the County of Essex, said these changes are uncommon for the region and aren't anything he's heard of in the county.

"But each municipality can set their own rules with regards to that, and if they have a problem of some kind, that may be their answer on how they're gonna solve it. Like I say, it's something that's pretty rare here."

In the Town of Lakeshore, where Bain serves as mayor, he says "council members are able to come and go."